deceive: to say or do something that causes someone to believe a lie,
or to hide the truth.

oath: to make a serious promise, to swear to something

Lesson

Joshua 9"To protect their countries, some of the kings of
Canaan decided to bring all their armies together to fight the
Israelites. After seeing God’s power, they were afraid to fight
alone. But the people in nearby Gibeon would not join them.
Perhaps they knew God of Israel would help his people win even
if all of the kings in the world came together. The Gibeonites
thought it would be better to make a treaty (or agreement) with
the Israelites..."
Read the full lesson text.

Object Lesson: Bring a box of candy or mints, etc into class,
filled with paper clips instead. Tell the students that just for
coming today, they get a treat. Give them each a clip from the box.
Act excited, like they received candy. When they show
disappointment, describe how great a paper clip is and all the
wonderful things they can do with one. When they deny that a paper
clip is a treat, discuss deception. Many people today rename
activities, or products, to sound better than they are. They call
sinful behavior an alternative lifestyle. They call murder a
"choice". They are trying to make a sinful thing look better than it
is. As children of God, we must carefully examine what others are
trying to convince us of, just like in this lesson.

Activity: bring a work shirt and a dress jacket into class.
Have two students each don one. Then have them switch. Ask the class
what the difference was between the two - just the outer shirt. Talk
about how the student inside the shirt didn't change because they
put on other clothes. Can wearing nice clothes and going to a
certain building on Sunday's make us good? Only changing what's
inside, our heart, makes us good. You can dress like a Christian,
and act like a Christian, but God said that our fruit, or actions,
show what's inside. Our life and behavior show whether we really are
good. The lies of the Gibeonites showed their character. Joshua's
refusal to break his oath showed his.

Discussion: Do two wrongs make a right? What two wrongs happened
in this lesson? 1) The Gibeonites lied to the Israelites, 2) Israel
made a treaty with the Gibeonites. God counted the treaty as wrong,
despite the ignorance of the Israelites. He did not believe
ignorance was an excuse then, and He doesn't now. Sin done in
ignorance is still sin, and must be repented of. Did the Gibeonites'
lie make the oath void? No. Many people today would say that they
wouldn't have to keep a promise if it was based on a deception. But
God held Israel to their oath. They knew that breaking their oath
would simply be another sin. Instead, they repented of their
oath-taking, while dealing with the consequences. Our sins have
consequences sometimes - and we must deal with them, not sin more
trying to negate them. There are some promises and commitments we
make "for better or for worse". When a woman brings a life into this
world as a consequence of a sinful act, the proper response is
repentance, and care for the child. Not abortion. Sin will never
right a wrong. Only humble obedience will.

1 Samuel 16:7b "...for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man
lookes on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the
heart."Joshua 10:13 “So the sun stood still and the moon stopped
till the people had revenge on their enemies.”